Five Arrested for Passing Fraudulent Checks at Chase Bank on Greenwich Ave

Greenwich Police responded on June 20 to Chase Bank at 197 Greenwich Ave on a report of several suspects passing fraudulent checks.

Two vehicles were identified as being occupied by the possible suspects – a red Nissan Altima and a gray Toyota Corolla.

Around 2:45pm, Juan J Martin, 29, of 1839 Lexington Ave in New York, NY was located inside the bank where police say he was attempting to deposit a fraudulent check. Police found Mr. Martin in possession of one fraudulent check.

Janine Gomez, 26, of 535 West 51st Street in Manhattan, NY was located in the rear passenger seat of a red Nissan Altima and identified by her NY driver’s license. She was found in possession of 31 counterfeit one hundred dollar bills and two fraudulent Florida driver’s licenses. She was also identified by bank staff as having attempted to deposit two fraudulent checks.

The driver of the Altima was identified as Robert Morales, 43, of 100 W Sheffield Ave in Englewood, NJ by his New Jersey state driver’s license. His son, Robert J Morales, 23, of 164 W 174th St in Bronx, NY was in the front passenger seat and was identified by his New York driver’s license.

The identity of the driver of the Toyota Corolla was identified as Vamara S Traore, 24, of 1386 Ogden Ave in Bronx, NY. He was found in possession of a small Ziploc bag containing 2.5 grams of green leafy substance that tested positive for THC.

Ms. Gomez was charged with 31 counts of forgery, Criminal Attempt/Larceny, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny, Criminal Attempt/Forgery 2, Conspiracy to Commit Forgery 2, and 2 counts of Forgery 2. Her bond was set at $50,000, which she was unable to post. She was assigned a date in Stamford Superior Court on July 5, 2017.

Mr. Martin was charged Criminal Attempt Larceny 1, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny 1, Criminal Attempt Forgery 2, and Conspiracy to Commit Forgery 2. He was released on a Promise to Appear in court on July 5, 2017 in Stamford Superior Court.

Both Mr. Morales and his son Robert J Morales were charged with Larceny 1, Conspiracy to Commit Larceny 1, Forgery 2 and Conspiracy to Commit Forgery 2. Their bond was set at $5,000 each, which they was able to post. They have a court date on July 5 in Stamford Superior Court.

Mr. Traore was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Larceny 1, Conspiracy to Commit Forgery 2 and Possession of Marijuana Less than 1/2 Oz. His bond was set at $5,000 which he was able to post.He has a court date in Stamford on July 5, 2017.

This article was written by Michelle Xiong and Emma Burstiner for The Beak at Greenwich High School, and was published on Friday, March 16, 2018
On March 14, one month since the tragic Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in which 17 students were killed, schools across the nation rallied together and walked out of their classes at 10:00AM for 17 minutes. As Dr. Winters established in his email to the students, parents, and faculty, the message for the walk-out was that “we must do more to stop school shootings.”
The GHS Young Democrats were eager for the walk out.